(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to metallic glass with nanometer-sized pores and a method for manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to metallic glass with nanometer-sized pores that includes two interconnected amorphous phases and a method for manufacturing the same.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Porous materials contain a plurality of pores. The porous materials are already encountered in almost all fields of everyday life, from hygienic products, textiles, filters, insulating materials, in addition to components in many industrial production processes.
The basic characteristics of the porous materials depend on their porous microstructure which determines macroscopic properties such as thermal conductivity, moisture absorption ability, filtering efficiency, and soundproofing efficiency. Various techniques have been developed to produce materials with pores of a controlled size down to a few Angstroms, such as zeolites that are referred to as microporous materials. In particular, mesoporous materials with a pore size between 2 nm to 50 nm and macroporous materials with a pore size larger than 50 nm have been developed for several years for polymer and ceramic materials.
Particularly, materials with a controlled size of pores at a nanometer range have been developed, which provide distinctive properties. One of the major achievements of nanotechnology is the design of materials with a porous structure to provide a high surface area-to-volume aspect ratio.
Using nanotechnology, attempts have been made for the last ten years to develop porous metallic glass. Metallic glass is a homogeneous material with an aperiodic structure such as grain depletion and segregation. Metallic glass has good properties such as high specific strength, high corrosion resistance, and low thermal conductivity. In contrast to conventional metallic materials, the metallic glass has a regular crystalline structure consisting of single crystal grains of varying sizes that are suitable to form the microstructure.
Porous metallic glass is metallic glass with a plurality of pores. The porous metallic glass is made by combining the advantages of porous materials and metallic glass, i.e., a large surface-to-volume aspect ratio and high strength.
However, the conventional method has encountered difficulty owing to the limitation imposed by the necessary minimum glass forming ability of the alloys. Moreover, the size of the pores could not be reduced thus far below a few micrometers. Particularly, porous metallic materials with a pore size of a nanometer range have not previously been manufactured. Furthermore, the presence of pores results in a significant reduction of the strength of metallic materials and limits their application.